2017: Page 112

Page 112 began with my waking up in time to get breakfast at the hotel before heading into the convention for the day. Many people say that breakfast is the most important meal for the day. For many of the same reasons, and more, starting the day with some intentional time with God is the most important thing you can do. It’s not that God’s presence isn’t always available to us, but if we don’t seek and acknowledge it, we can do a pretty good job of hiding from and ignoring it.

My morning was spent at the prayer ministry display as I talked with people about the ministry and shared with them about the work God does within a lifestyle of prayer. During the lunch break, I had lunch with a young man who was a student in my first youth ministry. We talked about ministry and family and how each of those change the other. Sometimes one changes the other in ways that are harmful which ends up hurting both. But wisdom teaches us how to embrace the changes that are beneficial to each and reject those that would cause harm.

After lunch it was back to the convention for an afternoon of talking with a few more people. The traffic through the display area didn’t seem to be very good this year, so I pray even more that the conversations that did take place would bear much fruit for God’s glory. As the convention concluded, it was time to pack up the display and load everything into the truck for the journey home. The trip home would take me near Lake Michigan shortly before sunset, so I stopped by to spend some time with God and take some photos. The water was a little bit choppy but the sun was shining brightly when I arrived at the lake. The wind coming off the lake was filled with moisture and sand which added to the chill in the air. Today’s photo is of a duck riding the waves. There were several of these out bobbing on the water as they would rise and fall with each passing wave. Occasionally they would disappear from view only to be seen a short while later on the back side of a big wave that had crashed over them.

While most of us would prefer the smooth waters of life, that isn’t what we always experience. Sometimes we live in the midst of choppy waters and sometimes the waves of life reach massive proportions as they are driven by the winds of this world. While there are times when we have some choice in the waves we experience, other times we are left riding waves that are not of our choosing. When we live in Christ, He helps us to stay afloat and endure the waves — perhaps even enjoy them at times. But there are also those times when we call out to Him to save us and His voice calms the raging sea within us.

As I reflect on the day, here are some thoughts/lessons that stand out to me:

A deliberate time with God to start the day helps you to be aware of His presence throughout the day.

Sometimes God brings many people across our path that He wants us to interact with and sometimes that number is few.

God’s not as concerned about the total number of people we share with as He is about out being faithful in sharing with those He gives us opportunity with.

God’s presence helps us to ride the waves of life with endurance and even enjoyment.

God’s presence also has the power to calm the storms and the damaging waves which threaten to destroy us.

Pages

Archives

Archives

Disclaimer!

All posts on this blog are my thoughts and opinions at the time of writing and do not necessarily reflect the views of any other individual or organization. I have been known to change my mind on occasion, so the writings here may not even reflect my views all the time.
Thanks for learning with me. - Tom